Loss
by Inu Kaiba
Summary: Naruto struggles to deal with the pressure of losing the two people who mean the most to him. NaruHina. ShikaIno. TenNeji. Hint of SasuSaku.


Inu Kaiba: Have you ever woken up to find something you never dreamed possible come true? Well I will always rue May 19th, for all the pain it's caused. No one's dead, but I feel... lost. And the realization that things will never be the same is crashing down upon my small worthless world. (This is also kinda AU, to have it make sense)

Summary: Naruto struggles to deal with the pressure of losing the two people who mean the most to him. NaruHina. ShikaIno. TenNeji. Hint of SasuSaku.

* * *

He was here. It all felt like a dream, like nothing had happened since he put the Shinobi headband on and accepted his duties. But here he was, in the flesh, wearing the black clothing he'd bought for the occasion. 

He slowly raised his hand, as the man asked if anyone wanted to make a speech while listening to the sad parents cry in the background.

The man nodded, and the boy slowly rose. He stood up and there he fogged out.

Who was he? He was Uzumaki Naruto, the strongest, bravest boy who put a tough face on whenever anything was wrong. But here was that same boy, tears shining from his bright blue eyes. Here was that boy who'd promised himself and his parents all those years ago he would never break.

But Uzumaki Naruto had been broken, and he'd been broken hard. He'd been broken by the entire event and sweeping over the crowd he caught the eye of quite a few familiar faces.

Hyuuga Hinata and her cousin Neji sat side by side. He scanned over them with his blank and hollow eyes, eyes that could barely convey the sadness and loss this poor boy had been through. The girl had her face buried in her hands, and a closer look revealed her shoulders moving up and down to a rhythmic, though quiet sobbing.

What Uzumaki Naruto did not realize was that she was crying for him. She looked up and caught him staring at her and she gave him the widest, happiest looking smile he'd ever seen aside from his own when he still smiled; perhaps brighter than _theirs_ had ever been at any point in time. It broke his heart in two, and maybe when the pain had subsided, maybe, maybe he'd ask her to marry him.

He had nothing to give, but perhaps she would accept him. She had never known _them_ and what Uzumaki Naruto soon realized was that she was crying for him. Yes, he promised himself. He would ask her, and if she turned him down nothing was left. Hinata would help him if she said yes.

Hyuuga Neji looked unaffected but having lived with the teen and his hollow lifeless eyes long enough, Uzumaki Naruto noticed something different and knew the pain of loss was tearing Neji apart just as much as anyone. Even if he would never admit it.

Inuzuka Kiba's eyes were trained on Hinata and though he wouldn't admit it, Uzumaki Naruto noticed the hint of sadness. Not just for Naruto but for _them_ as well. Maybe he would jump off a building and let Kiba have her. But if Hinata really did like him… Well he would just have to find out later.

Aburame Shino looked unfazed as usual, the guy was about as emotionless as _him_… and Neji. Of course he would look unfazed by the entire ordeal.

Yamanaka Ino was crushing a bouquet of flowers between her hands as she sobbed. She sobbed loud and hard but no one noticed her. She had been _her_ friend at some point and although the two had acted as bitter rivals, he knew deep down there was some sort of love between the two of them.

Nara Shikamaru sat beside her trying to calm the blonde haired beauty. He wrapped his arms around her. But Naruto knew he had liked _her _and he had liked her in a way that was stronger then friendship. He was just as sad as her, if not more.

Akimichi Chouji sat beside the two not sad at all. But the boy had sacrificed his regular eating habits and was being respectful enough not to eat there in front of _them_. He was a good kid deep down and on closer look Uzumaki Naruto realized he looked a heck of a lot thinner than usual.

Tenten was sitting beside Neji and Hinata trying to comfort Neji despite the fact that he refused and repeated again and again that he was just fine. But Tenten, who had known the boy longer than anyone except probably Lee, could see the look on his face and the hurt in his eyes was painfully obvious and he couldn't hide it from anyone.

Rock Lee was sobbing somewhere in the background having lost his spandex for the occasion. Uzumaki Naruto realized he had lost _her_, and he had promised to protect her. _She_ had meant as much to him as _she _meant to everyone else.

Hatake Kakashi had stashed the perverted paperback and was sitting in the back, eyes forlornly staring at him. Kakashi could read him like an open book and at that exact moment he could see all the pain and sorrow hidden inside his pupil's eyes. It was understandable, the boy had lost so much as had he himself.

The boy cleared his throat and began. "These…."

And everything he had promised he would forget came rushing back.

* * *

"How had it happened?" he kept asking himself. 

It had all happened that one warm spring day in May.

"Where is that bitch?" Sasuke snarled, a growl emanating from his deep but strong vocal cords.

"We ask that question everyday. He got lost down the road of life, forgot, slept in, or heaven forbid, was actually doing something that distracted him." Sakura said, shifting her position from where she was leaning against the railing, emerald green eyes staring out at something that he himself could not see.

Meanwhile the boy himself, the broken boy Uzumaki Naruto was sitting off to the side sort of quietly. "He's probably watching us rig…"

Said boy never finished his line before the kunai flew from the bushes headed straight for him.

"Shit!" He cried, jumping out of the way, knife scarcely touching his skin and landing with a plonk, sticking into the railing in the exact same spot Naruto had previously been.

"Very good Naruto. You've learned well." Kakashi said, emerging from the bushes in his mysterious way.

A satisfied smirk traced its way across Naruto's once frozen features while Sasuke stared eyes wide and mouth agape. "I didn't even sense you…"

"Exactly, m'dear boy. I concealed my presence long before you arrived, figuring at least one of you would figure I was just being late as usual, however Naruto caught onto the fact that I was testing you. Like a true shinobi, he saw underneath the underneath. But what actually surprised me is usually Sakura guesses these sorts of things, not Naruto." Kakashi said; his one eye curved so you could only guess he was smiling, while reaching over to pat Naruto's head in a fatherly manner.

"So what's today's mission? Did you finally manage to get a B class mission?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms over his chest trying to hide his anger at the fact that Naruto got noticed for doing something he could just as easily have done… had he not stayed up late last night.

"As a matter of fact, that was my surprise for today." Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head. "How'd you guess?"

"Intuition, I guess. And I figured we could ask in case you forgot **again**."

"Well I didn't. And I got you guys one."

"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked, shifting her pale emerald eyes from where she was staring over to their teacher.

"Infiltrating one of the Sand-nin's bases and stealing a secret document."

"Won't that be a bit hard?" Naruto questioned, scratching his head.

"Nah. It's not heavily guarded. Otherwise it would be an A class mission or something, something you guys are too young and inexperienced."

"Well if **all** of us work together…" Sasuke concluded, emphasizing heavily on the all. "Then we should be able to do this quite easily."

However Naruto and his teammates would rue the day they wished for a B class mission and Naruto would despise the letter B forever.

* * *

That was when they attacked, all of them at once it seemed. 

It had all been a trap. They'd had a spy infiltrate Konohagakure.

"No wonder the sources were fucked up." Kakashi hissed, trying to block the attacks.

It was true. The sand-nins had sent in one of their own, and posing as a leaf-nin he'd slipped the bomb. Then, like stupid flies they'd fallen for it sending those who could've been greater, had they actually grown up.

"It's a shame there weren't more little rookies like you to wipe out." Temari snarled, throwing her fan back and then forward creating mini sand hurricanes.

On her own turf, the fan was much more vicious able to create such things effectively blinding the Konoha Genin.

"We have to retreat!" Kakashi cried, dodging another kick to the head. "Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura. Run as fast as you can now."

Even if sand was the hardest thing to run on, being as far from solid ground as water, they ran.

When Kakashi did a head check, they were all still there. The only thing that had changed was the gashes all over them.

Kakashi surveyed Naruto and nodded, but one look at Sasuke and Sakura drained the colour from his face.

The pair were barely clinging to consciousness let alone life.

"Sasuke, Sakura. This is the hardest thing to tell you… But those wounds are fatal. We have no way to treat them being on enemy territory. By the time we get home, you'll be dead. Do you have any last requests before you die?"

"Yeah, Kakashi, I want to talk to Naruto alone." Sasuke said quietly, since speaking at all hurt his lungs, in particular his rib cage which was bruised and tender from being stabbed with several sharp weapons. He winced as one of his broken ribs rubbed against some of the underbrush and he hissed in pain.

"As do I." Sakura added just as quietly.

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "Sasuke you go first."

Sasuke nodded and walked over to Naruto. He took a small breath and spoke just low enough that Naruto could hear him, but not anyone else. He also spoke low for if he spoke much higher it would probably injure his ribs and lungs ever further.

"Since I couldn't, Naruto, I want you to kill my brother for me. Please avenge my clan, even if it lives on as a legend."

Naruto just nodded dejectedly, completely understanding but at the same time feeling his heart break into a million tiny pieces from this astounding last minute discovery.

"And Naruto… Remember I love you…. And not in that sick way you pervert." Sasuke added as Naruto leaned over to puke in the bush.

"I love you, as the only friend I had. And never forget that, because when I die I'm gonna watch over you and make sure you kill Itachi. And that you stay safe and stuff."

Sakura slowly walked over trying not to make her wounds bleed anymore than they already were.

"Naruto… Naruto-Chan, please take our bodies back. Even if they're mangled and rotting… I want my parents and everyone else to have a proper burial… for closure." Sakura said, slowly and clearly to make sure he heard and because it hurt her just as much as it hurt Sasuke to speak.

"And Naruto… You may not believe you meant that much to me, but I **promise** that you did and still do." Sakura added, trying to give him a hug but concluding it was much too painful, she gave him a kiss on the cheek instead.

Naruto smiled and picked the two of them up gently lying them down beside each other and in response; Sakura gently wrapped her fingers around Sasuke's hand.

"I love you Sasuke. And because I love you so much, I wish you could have lived on instead of me, you've got so much to live for."

Sasuke smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. "As do I, Sakura. As do I." He said eyes slowly closing as consciousness faded away.

"Tell… my parents…. I love them… And that I wish… Ino and I… could have made up." Her form slumped over as well consciousness fading just as Sasuke's was.

Naruto listened to their forms' hearts as best as he could, but ended up putting a hand over each of their hearts. '_Maybe they weren't going to die and he was just mistaking, maybe they'll live miraculously some how._'

But his hopes were raised for naught and soon their hearts stopped and their bodies grew cold. Naruto's shoulders shook and he quietly sobbed over the cold, deceased bodies of the two people who had grown to mean so much to him.

Returning to Konohagakure, the two bodies were arranged for a funeral and that funeral was this very same day.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto cleared his throat again and looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Haruno who were weeping over the loss of their beautiful daughter who never got to live. 

"These…" He began, trying again. "These two beautiful lives bestowed upon us and our lives will make us grateful every day. We should be thankful to have known them, not weeping. I'm sorry however. I'm so sorry I never told them how I felt. I loved Sasuke and Sakura very much and I hope they've realized just how much. Just knowing them in the way I did gave me a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope their existence affected yours, just as much as it did mine. And I hope, standing here today that we will honor their existence and forever will their names live on. For serving their country and dieing on the field of battle, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke though your lives may be lost, may your spirits live on forever."

With that Uzumaki Naruto stepped off the platform and walked over to the trees, watching as the caskets were lowered into the ground. The sobbing from Ino and Mr. and Mrs. Haruno grew louder and there wasn't a dry eye in the house after Naruto's little speech.

Uzumaki Naruto turned then and walked off. Some say they thought the pressure was too much and he committed suicide. Some say he went off on a journey and never returned. And some say he stole Hinata and ran off somewhere to live happily with her.

Most of them were partially right but also a lot were wrong. Uzumaki Naruto disappeared to complete his promise, to kill Uchiha Itachi.

Several years later with his mission complete, he stole Hinata away and after she said yes to the proposal, the two were married.

Uzumaki Naruto never returned to Konohagakure, the memories were much too painful. And if some say getting married to a girl like that was supposed to make him the happiest man alive, Naruto was never again happy for he could never forget his teammates. Ever.

* * *

Inu Kaiba: The end. Slightly different from what I normally write. This was sort of AU because although it was the same sort of, a lot of events that took place never actually happened. We could basically say that it went right up until the end of the Chuunin Exams without some events in between like the staged attack against the whole bloody exam. And as for age, about a year or two had passed that they'd known each other. Hope you liked my attempt at a Naruto story with het pairings. 


End file.
